Onna, Japan (SPX) Mar 15, 2017
While nanoparticles sound like a recent discovery, these tiny structures have been used for centuries. The famous Lycurgus cup, made by 4th century Roman artisans, features dichroic glass, with gold and silver nanoparticles sprinkled throughout, producing a green appearance when light is shining on it from the front, and a red appearance when illuminated from behind.
In the centuries since the time of the ancient artisans, researchers have come a long way in understanding nanoparticles. The produc ... read more

Most complex nanoparticle crystal ever made by designEvanston IL (SPX) Mar 03, 2017
The most complex crystal designed and built from nanoparticles has been reported by researchers at Northwestern University and the University of Michigan. The work demonstrates that some of nature's ... more

Nano 'sandwich' offers unique propertiesHouston TX (SPX) Feb 28, 2017
Rice University researchers have modeled a nanoscale sandwich, the first in what they hope will become a molecular deli for materials scientists. Their recipe puts two slices of atom-thick graphene ... more

Switched-on DNA spark nano-electronic applicationsTempe AZ (SPX) Feb 22, 2017
DNA, the stuff of life, may very well also pack quite the jolt for engineers trying to advance the development of tiny, low-cost electronic devices.
Much like flipping your light switch at hom ... more

Three magnetic states for each holeDresden, Germany (SPX) Feb 03, 2017
Nanometer-scale magnetic perforated grids could create new possibilities for Computing. Together with international colleagues, scientists from the Helmholtz Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) have s ... more

Reduce Fuel Burn With a Dose of BLIWashington DC (SPX) Mar 15, 2017
It sounds like a cause of heart burn. Instead, Boundary Layer Ingestion - or BLI - is a promising idea NASA researchers are studying to reduce fuel burn in jet engines, thus reducing emissions and the cost of operating the aircraft.
At its simplest: With BLI, an airplane's engines are located near the rear of the aircraft so that air flowing over the aircraft body becomes part of the mix o ... more

China Develops Spaceship Capable of Moon LandingBeijing (Sputnik) Mar 13, 2017
Chinese state media is reporting that the country's space program has developed a craft capable of both landing on the moon and flying in low-Earth orbit.
The new spacecraft is claimed to be able to accommodate multiple astronauts, according to spaceship engineer Zhang Bainian, who Science and Technology Daily cited as comparing the forthcoming ship to the Orion craft currently in developm ... more

US charges two Russian spies in massive Yahoo cyberattackWashington (AFP) March 15, 2017 Two Russian intelligence agents and a duo of hackers were indicted Wednesday over a data breach that compromised 500 million Yahoo accounts in one of the largest cyberattacks in history.
The indictment announced by the US Justice Department links Russia's top spy agency, the FSB, to the massive hacking operation which began in 2014 with the twin goals of espionage and financial gain.
It ... more

Team Indus To Send Seven Experiments To The Moon Including Three From IndiaBengaluru, India (IANS) Mar 17, 2017
Seven teams, including three from India, have qualified for the country's first private moon mission in December, space technology start-up TeamIndus said on Wednesday.
"Teams Callisto, Ears and Kalpana from India, Space4Life from Italy, Lunadome from Britain, Killa Lab from Peru and Regolith Revolution from the US have qualified to fly their experiments to the lunar surface in our spacecr ... more

The world's first international race for molecule-cars, the Nanocar Race is onParis, France (SPX) Mar 15, 2017
Nanocars will compete for the first time ever during an international molecule-car race on April 28-29, 2017 in Toulouse (south-western France). The vehicles, which consist of a few hundred atoms, will be powered by minute electrical pulses during the 36 hours of the race, in which they must navigate a racecourse made of gold atoms, and measuring a maximum of a 100 nanometers in length.
Th ... more

BAE Systems enlists Czech firm for armored vehicle partsWashington (UPI) Mar 15, 2017
BAE Systems selected Czech defense firm VOP CZ to provide supporting components for Infantry Fighting Vehicles being built for the Austrian government.
The contract, signed in February, builds on the existing partnership between the two defense manufacturers. BAE Systems and VOP CZ agreed to collaborate in 2016 on replacing the Czech Republic's fleet of BMP-2 armored vehicles with the C ... more

The world's first international race for molecule-cars, the Nanocar Race is onParis, France (SPX) Mar 15, 2017
Nanocars will compete for the first time ever during an international molecule-car race on April 28-29, 2017 in Toulouse (south-western France). The vehicles, which consist of a few hundred atoms, will be powered by minute electrical pulses during the 36 hours of the race, in which they must navigate a racecourse made of gold atoms, and measuring a maximum of a 100 nanometers in length.
Th ... more

Songs that make robots cryOsaka, Japan (SPX) Mar 13, 2017
Music, more than any art, is a beautiful mix of science and emotion. It follows a set of patterns almost mathematically to extract feelings from its audience. Machines that make music focus on these patterns, but give little consideration to the emotional response of their audience. An international research team led by Osaka University together with Tokyo Metropolitan University, imec in Belgiu ... more

Trump gives CIA power to conduct drone strikesWashington (AFP) March 14, 2017
President Donald Trump's administration has given new powers to the CIA to conduct drone strikes against extremist targets in the Middle East, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.
The move would represent a change from Obama-era policies that limited the spy agency's role in conducting paramilitary strikes, pushing responsibility for these to the Pentagon.
Obama had insisted on a mo ... more

Spin-resolved oscilloscope for charge and spin signalsTokyo, Japan (SPX) Mar 15, 2017
Researchers at the Tokyo Institute of Technology and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation have developed a "spin-resolved oscilloscope." This device is a basic measuring instrument for plasmonics and spintronics, which are key technologies for future electronics applications.
The coupling of light and electronic charges in plasmonics will pave the way for ultra-high-speed information ... more

MIPT physicists predict the existence of unusual optical compositesMoscow, Russia (SPX) Mar 13, 2017
Physicists from MIPT have predicted the existence of transparent composite media with unusual optical properties. Using graphics card based simulations, scientists studied regular volume structures composed of two dielectrics with close parameters, and found that the optical properties of these structures differ from both those of natural crystals and artificial periodic composites, which are cu ... more

Tillerson to East Asia in shadow of North Korea threatWashington (AFP) March 13, 2017
With North Korea's drive to field a nuclear-armed missile rapidly emerging as President Donald Trump's first foreign crisis, his top diplomat is heading to a nervous region.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, a former oil executive with no government experience, has yet to make an impact in Washington, where he has not even appointed a senior staff.
But this week he will head as emissa ... more

Radiation from nearby galaxies helped fuel first monster black holesNew York NY (SPX) Mar 15, 2017
The appearance of supermassive black holes at the dawn of the universe has puzzled astronomers since their discovery more than a decade ago. A supermassive black hole is thought to form over billions of years, but more than two dozen of these behemoths have been sighted within 800 million years of the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago.
In a new study in the journal Nature Astronomy, a team o ... more

Cells adapt ultra-rapidly to zero gravityZurich, Switzerland (SPX) Mar 01, 2017
Mammalian cells are optimally adapted to gravity. But what happens in the microgravity environment of space if the earth's pull disappears? Previously, many experiments exhibited cell changes - after hours or even days in zero gravity. Astronauts, however, returned to Earth without any severe health problems after long missions in space, which begs the question as to how capable cells are of ada ... more

EU close to 2020 renewable energy target Washington (UPI) Mar 14, 2017
Members of the European Union are about 3 percentage points away from meeting their 2020 objectives for renewable energy, its statistics office reported.
Members of the EU agreed to a benchmark of 20 percent for a share of renewable energy on their grids by 2020. Eurostat, the bloc's record-keeping office, said the share of renewable energy in final consumption in 2015, the last full ye ... more

A Consolidated Intelsat and OneWebMcLean VA (SPX) Mar 16, 2017
Earlier this week, our parent company Intelsat announced a merger with OneWeb that will transform the satellite industry. The companies announced an agreement in which Intelsat and OneWeb will merge in a share-for-share transaction, with Japan's SoftBank Group agreeing to invest $1.7 billion in the combined company.
This agreement has the potential of creating a space industry leader in bo ... more

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2016 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes.
AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties.
Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement